‘If it wasn’t for Naloxone I wouldn’t be here speaking to you right now’

If it was not for the anti-overdose medication Naloxone Dean Cremin (30) “wouldn’t be here”.

The Cork man overdosed on the highly potent synthetic opiate Nitazene in December while staying in a homeless hostel. The quick reaction of staff and their access to Naloxone, saved his life. It was a “terrifying breaking point” said the father which made him determined to get his recovery from addiction “back on track”.

There have been 57 recorded overdoses in Dublin and 20 in Cork of Nitazene, which can be 25 times stronger than fentanyl, since the opioid was first detected here in November. A HSE red alert remains in place for Cork and Dublin regions amid “increased risk for people who use heroin at this time”, said a HSE spokeswoman.

Cremin was among those affected when Nitazene “hit Cork” in early December. He had been struggling with addiction for more than ten years, with long spells of sobriety and a small number of relapses. Though in recovery since October he had what he describes as a “slip”.

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He was in his room in St Vincent’s hostel, emergency accommodation for men run by Depaul, when he injected what he thought was heroin. “I didn’t even get a fifth of it into my body and I felt it. I remember putting 10ml in and feeling, ‘Jesus Christ. This is not heroin at all’ ... The next thing I remember is waking up in the Mercy hospital.”

He describes “terror” on learning what had happened, and his gratitude that he was in an environment where staff had Naloxone, which can be a nasal spray or injected.

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“That’s when I really realised I am playing with my life here. If there had been no Naloxone I’d be dead or if I’d been on my own I’d be dead. It is terrifying. That was the breaking point.”

Depaul is calling for an “immediate escalated response” to the drugs crisis amid “unprecedented” demand for Naloxone across its homeless services. “In 2023 our frontline team administered 389 doses of naloxone – a 50 per cent increase on last year. In many instances multiple doses were administered to the individual overdosing due to the strength of the opioid taken.”

A HSE spokeswoman said the executive continued to monitor “the emergence of synthetic opioids including nitazene drugs on the Irish drug market. These drugs have been emerging over the last four years and 16 different nitazenes have been identified in Europe, including six in 2023″.

[ Dangerous synthetic heroin continuing to cause overdoses in Dublin ]

“An analysis of the substances taken by drug users who experienced overdoses found “there were nitazene drugs present and no heroin at all”, she said.

“The drugs were being sold as ‘new’ or ‘strong’ heroin. We have continued to see overdoses associated with nitazene drugs and there has been Garda seizures of nitazene powder in Dublin. There are likely to be ongoing presentations associated with synthetic opioid drugs in the coming weeks and months while the issue of reduced heroin production in Afghanistan impacts on the global drug market.”

Cremin has had “a couple of spells in prison” the last of which was during Covid. “That time really helped. You just had so much time to think. It was like an epiphany, it made me realise that my family were the only ones who had my back, and they were the ones I was neglecting. I used that time to really get myself together.”

He has had to administer naloxone to his own friends, including in the past week. He believes the anti-overdose medication should be “everywhere”.

“If it wasn’t for Naloxone I wouldn’t be here speaking to you right now.”

As to his own future, he is determined to maintain his recovery. “I am back on track thank God. Relationships are mending and there’s more mending to be done.” He has worked in construction and is a qualified personal trainer. He hopes to find a place to rent, and is grateful to his family for “always having [his] back”.

He says: “If I can beat addiction, from where I was down dancing with the devil, anyone can. Every day is a battle and I still have a long way to go but the one thing I would say: ‘You are playing with your life every day you inject something into your body. You don’t know what it is’.”

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